that begs the question, how would president obama or mitt romney tackle the question? cnn's john zarrella takes a look. >> the crew of the cutter fires its machine gun. >> got smoke. got smoke. >> all right! >> reporter: disabling the trawler. on board, 20 tons of marijuana. this was the mid-1980s. the drug war was at its height. then vice president george bush headed up a task force to fight the problem. >> we have got to do better in interdicting it. >> reporter: in miami, cocaine is found hidden in commercial jets, flowers, even boxes of yams. the problem is, some aren't yams at all. rather, plaster casts painted and shaped like yams. inside, pure coke. stach houses and drug labs are routinely raided. that was a war on drugs. these days, it's not even a war of words. the white house doesn't haven't call it a war any longer, focusing more on prevention. and in this political season, the issue of illicit drugs rarely gets a mention on the campaign trail. when it does come up, president obama and mitt romney appear to be on the same page. >> that the president of the u